She Could Be The One: A Jamko Story
by MichelleO33
Summary: A role-reversal rewrite of "He Could Be the One". It's been a year since Jamie and Eddie confessed their feelings for one another and they have been nothing but platonic since. Now Jamie has a date with someone else. A Jamko story!
1. Chapter 1

Jamie dropped heavily into the driver's seat of the RMP and handed Eddie one of the two cups of coffee he was holding.

"Here you go, Shorty."

"Thanks!" she replied cheerily, warming her hands around the cup. "So, what do you say we hit Anton's tonight?" She asked as Jamie reached around to grab his seatbelt. "It's been a few weeks, and, I know, I know, it's hard to _believe_ that I'm craving some ribs."

Jamie squirmed slightly in the driver seat. He shifted the coffee cup in his hands and took a slow sip to avoid answering for another moment. "Umm...rain check? I actually have a date," he said, trying to sound casual.

Clearly caught off guard by his response, Eddie paused, her mouth hanging open just slightly. It had been a long while since he made any mention of dating anyone. After a beat, she cocked her head slightly, asking, "Really? On a Tuesday?"

"Yeah, well, we're off tomorrow and she happened to have the day off also, so…." He shrugged and took another sip of his coffee.

"Off on a Wednesday? What does she do?", Eddie inquired. She felt that familiar quickening of her pulse that was unavoidable whenever Jamie spoke of a date with someone else.

"She has the week off for the holidays, but she's a lawyer." Jamie half-mumbled that last part into the lid of his coffee cup.

Eddie couldn't help the scoff that escaped her mouth.

"Oh, shut it." he chuckled, rolling his eyes. "We met at that holiday fundraiser Erin dragged me to last weekend. She's nice. You'd actually like her."

Nodding slowly, Eddie pressed her lips together tightly before asking, "And she knows you're a cop?"

"Yes...she does. Why?" he furrowed his brow and narrowed his eyes at his partner.

"But has she _dated_ a cop before?" she shot back, slightly more pointedly than she intended.

Jamie settled back in his seat, leaning slightly on the door behind him. "Jeez, this is quite the inquisition, Janko. What's the problem?" he asked gently.

"No problem. It's just you've had issues in the past with girls, specifically girl _lawyers_ , that have not been able to accept you being a cop. I just don't want to see you get hurt again. That's all." She busied herself settling her coffee cup in the cup holder before meeting his gaze again.

"That's all?" he asked, leaving the question hanging between them.

Eddie gently bit her lower lip as she turned to look out of the front windshield. Jamie couldn't help but notice how her lips glistened as she raked her teeth over them. He had to look away, always finding her mouth more attractive than he should. "Yeah, that's all" she replied quietly.

Jamie cleared his throat and sensing the seriousness in the car, tried to bring some levity to the moment. "Well, I haven't gotten her full dating history just yet, but I will be sure to find out and give you a full report by start of tour on Thursday." He winked at her, which was always her undoing. She rolled her eyes as he eased out of the parking spot, carefully checking over his shoulder first.

"Just looking out for you, partner." she replied coolly, shooting him a tight smile as they headed back to the station.

* * *

A/N: What do you think of the role reversal? Should I continue it or is this lame and ruining the original?


	2. Chapter 2

"And because I'm _such_ a good friend," Eddie said, spreading her fingers wide and pressing them to her own chest, "I will finish writing today's reports by myself so that you can get out of here."

Jamie looked down at Eddie as they walked into the squad room together. "And what will _that_ cost me?" he asked suspiciously.

"Whaaat?" She slowly drew out the word, allowing a coy smile to play across her face. "I'm honestly offended that you would think this is anything but a noble gesture."

Jamie stopped walking, and planting both hands on his hips, looked at her expectantly.

"I get to drive for a week…" she blurted out quickly, as wrinkled her nose at him and then turned towards their desks.

Dropping his hands from his hips, he moved quickly to catch her arm and spin her toward him. "Risking vehicular manslaughter for a week? No way. No deal. I'd rather do the reports myself."

Eddie raised her hands in mock surrender. "Fine," she chuckled. "Suit yourself."

Just then, from the other side of the room, loud laughter erupted from a few people standing together. Eddie and Jamie looked over to see what was going on. To Jamie's surprise, his date for the night was standing with Maldonado and Price, all three doubled over in laughter.

"Sarah?" Jamie called out, approaching the group cautiously. Eddie followed a step behind. He thought they had agreed to meet outside the precinct, and he certainly wasn't expecting to see her chatting it up with two of his fellow officers.

"Jamie!" Sarah took a step toward him and leapt up onto her tiptoes, wrapping her arms around his neck in a quick hug. "Hey...I hope you don't mind that I came in. I was waiting outside like we planned when I ran into this guy," she said, flicking her thumb toward Maldonado, "and he insisted I come in to catch up."

"You know each other?" he asked with a short laugh.

"Yeah, we went to highschool together and he had the good fortune of dating my older sister-"

Maldonado jumped in, "Hey! I think _she_ had the good fortune of dating _me,_ knucklehead!"

"Yeah, you actually got that right! She was such a pain in the ass; I don't know how you put up with her. She drove me totally nuts. I remember a few times, involving _you_ actually," she gently poked Maldonado in the chest, "that brought me close to killing her!"

"If memory serves, you are probably referring to the time I threw up in the back of your car after we convinced you to pick us up from that party…"

"It was my brand new Porsche!" Sarah exclaimed back at him.

Jamie cocked an eyebrow at Sarah who had dropped her head into both hands and was exhaling deeply in mock exasperation. "A Porsche?" Jamie echoed.

Sarah looked up sheepishly. "A gift from my dad for passing my driver's test. I know. Not really the most sensible car for a 16 year old…" Flicking her glance back to Maldonado, she added, "It would have been _fine_ had it not been for a couple of idiotic seniors!"

Jamie looked back and forth between them, laughing alongside, as he pictured a drunk Maldonado tossing his cookies in the back of her car.

"Anyway, I'm sorry. I'm sure the last thing you want to hear are old high school war stories." Turning to her old friend, Sarah promised to pass his regards on to her sister, and they exchanged a warm hug. Maldonado walked away, still laughing to himself as he headed to the locker room.

Returning her attention to Jamie, Sarah noticed another officer standing beside him. Eddie had been taking in the entire exchange between Sarah and Maldonado. She couldn't help but smirk as they reminisced, but she was also busy sizing up Jamie's date. She was different from his usual prim-and-proper type. This girl was spunky. She was also blonde, which was an obvious departure from Jamie's usual penchant for brunettes. She was short and slim, and God help her, she reminded her a lot of herself.

Sarah extended a hand, "Hi! I'm Sarah Murray…"

"Eddie Janko. Jamie's partner. Nice to meet you."

"Janko? Any relation to Armin Janko?" Sarah asked.

Having previously crossed paths with some victims of her father's Ponzi scheme, Eddie was used to people recognizing the Janko name. She reluctantly nodded her head, "Yeah…he's my dad." She was about to apologize on her father's behalf when Sarah cut in.

"I know the name because I'm in a similar boat with my dad. He, uh, made some really bad choices too. It's hard to reconcile the man who raised you with the man who ruined a lot of people's lives."

Jamie turned to Eddie, pressing his lips together with a sympathetic look.

Sarah continued, "He's actually the reason I became a lawyer. I prosecute financial crimes. I guess it's my way of trying to make right some of his wrongs. She stopped herself suddenly and took a deep breath. "Okay, I am going to stop embarrassing myself now by rambling on about my attempt to balance some cosmic karma…"

Jamie and Eddie both gave a genuine laugh. "No, it's fine. I couldn't agree more and obviously understand in a way that most others couldn't," Eddie nodded as she spoke. She couldn't help but think that Jamie had been right. This girl was nice. And Eddie _did_ find herself liking her. But as she listened to Sarah, she tried to ignore the growing feeling in the pit of her stomach. Something about this girl had Eddie wondering if she could be the one that finally took Jamie from her forever. Eddie looked at him, smiling broadly at Sarah, and she suddenly felt out of place. "Well, I am going to finish up some reports. You guys have a good time." She turned to Sarah and extended her hand. "It was nice meeting you."

Sarah shook it warmly, "Likewise. And we should all go out sometime. I promise not to spend the whole night commiserating about our old men."

Eddie laughed softly and nodded her agreement as she lifted her hand in a silent goodbye. She was approaching her desk when Jamie caught up with her.

"Hey! What are you doing? I told you 'no deal'. I'm helping with those reports", he announced as he grabbed a stack of papers off her desk.

"Jamie." The seriousness in her voice caused him to look up quickly. "Go have fun. I got the reports." He dropped his chin and lifted his eyes. He opened his mouth, about to protest, when Eddie cut in. "-and you know you always drive, so I don't know who we're kidding here." His face broke out into a small smile as Eddie continued. "Go on. Get out of here." She gestured with her chin towards the locker rooms.

"Thanks, partner. You're the best!" he said happily as he squeezed her arm, and strolled off to go change.

* * *

A/N: I am intentionally keeping this story as similar to "He Could Be The One" as possible. It is playing out the identical story but with a role reversal of Jamie having the date!


	3. Chapter 3

Eddie paced outside the men's locker room. She had finished the reports _and_ gotten changed and Jamie was still inside getting ready. She could hear him whistling to himself from the other side of the door. She was shocked at how long it was taking him. She _was_ usually the one waiting on him, bursting into the men's locker room unannounced to hurry him along, but this was excessive. Her stomach clenched at the idea that he was spending extra time getting ready in preparation for a date with someone else.

When she couldn't wait any longer, she opened the door and slid inside. Jamie was in front of his locker, with one foot up on the bench, tying his boot. "Hey, what's up?" he asked, glancing up at her. He no longer bothered to chastise her for entering unannounced.

He looked so good it hurt. Wearing dark jeans and a black fitted button-down, along with a pair of dress boots, he looked incredible. For the second time that day, her mouth hung slightly open, as she was suddenly at a loss for words.

Standing to look at her, he noticed her expression. Letting out a puffed laugh, he shot her a wink. "Thanks, Janko."

Her brain finally reconnected with her mouth. "Uh...thanks for what? I didn't say anything."

"That look said it all and it was _quite_ the compliment," he answered with a flash of his eyebrows. He dropped his chin to his chest and let out another chuckle. "So what's up? If you decided you needed help with those reports after all, you're too late. I'm about to walk out the door."

A sad smile tugged at one side of her mouth. His words, ' _You're too late"_ echoed in her mind.

She took a deep breath and held it for a beat. "Nothing..." she exhaled. "I just wanted to say I hope you have fun tonight."

He flashed her a suspicious squint, but seemed to let it pass. "So, what'd you think of Sarah?" he asked.

"Seems like a sweet girl. I mean, you can't go wrong with a Porsche..." she quipped.

Jamie threw his head back and laughed. "I know!" he boomed. "And that doesn't seem to be the only similarity. I think you guys might be soulmates…" he mused in a sing-song voice. "Actually, never mind. I don't want to get you started on that _soulmate_ business again." he said with an exaggerated eye roll.

Eddie slid her hands into the back pockets of her jeans and looked down at the ground in front of her boots as her stomach clenched, yet again. She cleared her throat and looked back up at Jamie. "Yeah...well. I'm going to get going. I'll see you." She tried her best to smile and she turned to the door.

"Eddie…" He said her name so softly she wasn't sure if she had imagined it.

With her hand on the doorknob, she half-turned back to him.

"Nevermind." he said. "I'll see you Thursday." He returned her weak smile and watched her close the door behind her.


	4. Chapter 4

Sarah placed her near-empty beer bottle on Jamie's coffee table and stood up, stretching her arms above her head. "I should get going. It's late…"

Jamie and Sarah had eaten at one of his favorite restaurants in Brooklyn Heights and had headed back to his place afterwards for a nightcap.

Jamie put his own beer down and stood to face her. He slowly reached out and took one of her hands in each of his, threading their fingers together. "I had a _really_ great time tonight...and...I'd love to see you again." Sarah returned his sweet smile and took a step towards him, closing the distance between them. Jamie dipped his head and captured Sarah's lips in a soft kiss.

When they separated, she nodded her agreement and replied, "Absolutely."

Jamie smiled broadly. "Let me grab my coat and I'll walk you down." He started to turn away when she gave a slight tug at his arm.

"Don't be silly. I can grab a cab all on my own," she grinned.

Jamie leaned down and kissed her again. "You sure?"

Sarah rolled her eyes playfully. "Yes, officer. I'm sure." She reached down and grabbed her jacket off the back of Jamie's couch and slipped it on, tossing her blonde waves out of the collar with one hand. "I'll talk to you tomorrow," she smiled sweetly and turned toward the door. She had gone a few steps when she stopped. She paused for a beat and then quickly spun around towards Jamie who she had left standing in the middle of this living room. She crossed the room in a few quick steps and crashed lightly into Jamie's arms, treating him to deep kiss. After she pulled away, their foreheads rested together for a beat. Sarah raked her teeth across her lower lip and untangled her hands from behind Jamie's neck. "Good night," she giggled. Then she turned and was gone before Jamie said anything else.

The heavy door closed behind her, and Jamie exhaled heavily dropping his chin to his chest. He ran his open hand down his face, replaying that last kiss in his mind. As he did, the memory of a different kiss that had taken place in that very spot, overtook his mind. Jamie's eyes snapped open and he forced the memory back down. He sighed heavily and sank back down onto his sofa, wondering if Sarah could be the one to finally rid his heart of Eddie Janko.

After finishing his beer and a rerun of SportsCenter, Jamie stood up and headed to the kitchen. He was just dropping his empty bottle into the recycling bin, when there was a faint knock at his door. As if the memory of their kiss had conjured her into existence, Jamie peered out of his peephole to see Eddie leaning against the wall opposite his apartment door. Her hands were shoved into the pockets of her leather jacket and her chinned was tucked into her chest, her shoulders rounded down.

"Eddie?" he asked with with an edge of panic in his tone. At the sound of the door opening, she lifted her head. "Are you okay?" he asked. He took a quick step towards her, gently closing his door behind him.

"Jamie, hey..." Arching her back, she pushed herself off the wall behind her, her hands still in her pockets. "Yeah, yeah. I'm...fine. I just was in the neighborhood and thought I'd come by."

The confusion spread across his face as he stood across from her. "You were in the _neighborhood?_ It's after midnight", he said slowly.

"Yeah, I-", she started. She reached her right hand up behind her head and gave it a few soft scratches. "I'm not really sure what I'm doing here actually." Giving him an apologetic smile, she huffed out a breath and let her hand fall back down towards her hip.

By this point, he was close enough to realize she was a few drinks in. She was by no means drunk, but he knew her well enough to know when she'd had a couple. It was just enough to force down her guard, exposing a little vulnerability. Normally, those were his favorite times with her. The constant concerted effort to remain professional would be dropped and they would be completely at ease with each other...even crossing the line on a few occasions. But tonight, it didn't endear her to him. It made him upset.

Shaking his head, he began, "You can't do this, Eddie. You can't."

Her hands slid down into the back pockets of her jeans, she gave a half shrug with a slight tilt of her head. "Do what?"

He cocked his head and gave her a look that said ' _you know exactly what I mean'._

He pressed his lips together tightly and looked away from her. "Eddie, I like Sarah. I like her a lot. She's...different. She's-"

"-a lot like me." Eddie cut in, looking down and toeing the ground with her boot.

Jamie started again. "She's someone I can see myself being with. But I'm going to mess it up, like I've done in the past, because I can't seem to move on from…" he moved his hand back and forth in the space between them, "...from whatever _this_ is."

"Jamie-"

"No, Eddie. Please." He held his hand up as if keeping her in place and took a ragged breath in. "We can't be together. But we can't move on. Or at least _I_ can't." He paused. "Did you know tonight was the first date I've been on in over a year? Over a year, Eddie. Since that night you came here to tell me how you felt about me. For a year I've been...waiting. Waiting for something to change. Waiting for my own feelings to change or..." He took a deep breath and restarted. "For a while, I really thought you were _the one_ and that I just needed to wait for our circumstances to change. But nothing has changed." He nearly whispered those last words, the anger he felt a moment ago was now replaced by sadness.

"Look, Jamie." She wanted to stop this conversation from going where it clearly seemed to be going. "Can we just go inside for a minute?" She took a step toward his door.

"No. We can't." He shook his head. "We can't keep doing this...and I can't keep waiting," he said sadly, fighting the tears that threatened to build. "You are the best partner and my best friend. But this is never going to be anything more than that." He opened his mouth as if to say something else, but then closed it again. Instead, he turned and opened the door to his apartment, letting the door close behind him.


	5. Chapter 5

Eddie felt like she'd been kicked in the stomach. Taking shallow breaths, she lifted her right hand to his closed door and rested her fingertips and forehead against it. She closed her eyes and tried to think of what to do. But she could barely breathe, nevermind, think rationally.

She wanted to knock. She wanted to tell him that she hadn't been on a single date in all this time either. That the thought of him being out tonight with someone else had nearly driven her insane. She wanted to tell him that she was ready for things to change. But she couldn't. Even if she could find the words, she was too proud to knock again tonight. So she lifted her head and trailed her fingers across his door as she walked away.

Walking down the front steps of Jamie's building, Eddie's head was still spinning. They'd had arguments before. They'd even had conversations about their "will we/won't we" relationship before. They always ended with Jamie and Eddie determined to stay friends and partners, and inevitably they'd always ended up sliding back into that gray area. But this felt different. There was a finality to this conversation that sat like a rock in her stomach. She pressed an open palm to the center of her chest and exhaled heavily. Sliding her phone from her back pocket, she dialed the number to the 12th precinct.

* * *

Inside his apartment, Jamie paced. He walked from room to room with no purpose. Finally, he sat on the edge of his couch, opening and closing his hands in an effort to stop them from shaking. He blew out a deep breath and mumbled aloud to himself, "No other choice." As confident as he was that he had done the right thing, it didn't change the fact that he felt as though he'd ripped out his own heart and left it in his hallway. He interlaced his fingers and dropped his forehead onto his knuckles. He couldn't believe he had just told Eddie that he 'thought she was _the one'._ But he pushed that regret aside. After all this time, he owed it to her and to himself to be honest. Because the truth was, he really thought at some point they _would_ end up together. He had held onto that hope for too long, only to realize that it wasn't going to be. He didn't want to leave anything unsaid as he turned the page on this _thing_ between him and Eddie. And Jamie knew that's exactly what he needed to do. But it still hurt like hell.

He pushed himself up off the couch and headed to his fridge for another beer. Screw it. This situation called for something different and he grabbed the bottle of whiskey. He plopped back down on his couch and turned on the TV. He flicked through the channels, not really in the mood for his usual go-to of ESPN. As he scrolled through the channel guide, he found exactly what he needed for this night: a trilogy marathon of _The Godfather._ His glass in one hand and the remote in the other, he kicked of his boots and tossed his feet up onto the coffee table. He would let himself wallow for tonight. But tomorrow, he would turn that page, and call Sarah.


	6. Chapter 6

Jamie slung his bag over his shoulder and walked into the station, readying himself to see Eddie for the first time since that conversation in his hallway. It was unusual for an entire day to go by without them speaking, but he wasn't surprised given the situation. He did, however, speak to Sarah yesterday and they planned to have dinner again that weekend. Despite what was happening with Eddie, he was really looking forward to seeing her again.

"Reagan!" Renzulli barked out as Jamie passed his office door.

"Hey, Sarge. What's up?"

"Just checkin' on your partner. I can't remember the last time she banged in sick like this. Off 'til Monday? She must be pretty hurt up."

Luckily, Renzulli was shuffling through papers on his desk as he spoke to him. Otherwise, he would have seen the look of shock on Jamie's face. Regaining his composure he managed to answer, "Um…yeah. She's hanging in there. Definitely seen better days but I think she'll be okay."

"Well, tell that pain in the neck to rest up and we hope she's feeling better. You're riding with Ventura until she's back."

"Will do, Sarge, and sounds good. See you at roll call." Jamie walked out of Renzulli's office and shook his head. Again, while not entirely surprising, he was a little taken aback that Eddie hadn't at least given him the heads up.

* * *

He spent the next two days worrying about Eddie and wondering if he should text or call. She hadn't reached out so he assumed that she simply didn't want to speak to him. The weekend approached and he still hadn't heard from her.

Jamie got into bed early that Friday night. He was planning an early run up the West Side Highway High Line to take advantage of the unseasonably warm weather. The buzz of his phone startled him as he started to doze off. He leaned across his pillow to his nightstand where his phone lay charging. Instinctively, he knew it was Eddie. It was after ten. Who else would call this late? So he was surprised to see it was actually Sarah's name lighting up his screen.

"Hello?" He answered with what he hoped sounded like a wide awake voice.

"Hey...how are you? Did I wake you?" her chipper voice asked back.

"No…" he replied, but she let a long pause linger between them. "Okay, sort of..." he chuckled.

Her light laugh floated back at him. "Crap, I'm sorry. Go back to bed. Call me tomorrow when you're up and about."

"No, no. I'm up. Really." he said through an extended yawn.

She chuckled again. "Well, I know we weren't supposed to meet until tomorrow for dinner, but I just remembered that tonight is the multiplex midnight movie of the month. They are showing "It's a Wonderful Life" which I am a total sucker for. I was wondering if you wanted to join."

His mind immediately jumped to the near-dozen times that Eddie had made that same request, attempting to drag him to the midnight movie. Each time he had scolded her for waking him, informed her that it was illogical to see a movie in the middle of the night, and proceeded to cover his head with a pillow and go back to sleep.

Placing his palm on his forehead, he shook his head to clear away his thoughts of Eddie. He was going to have to make a concerted effort to stop noticing the similarities between the two of them. He quickly decided that taking Sarah up on her offer was a surefire way to break from his Eddie habit. "Sure! Sounds great", he replied.

"Are you sure? I know it's kind of a weird time for a second date…"

"I'm sure", he said with a genuine smile and they agreed on a meeting place at 11:30. Jamie rolled out of bed, and groaned as he pulled his jeans over his boxers and ran an open palm down the length of his face. _Turning the page, Reagan. Turning the page…_ he thought to himself as he headed for the coffee maker.

* * *

Jamie yawned and stretched both hands over his head. He dropped his head back and let the cool night air wake him up. He had arrived a few minutes early so he had parked himself on a bench outside the theater entrance. The sidewalk was packed and the box office line stretched down to the corner. He couldn't believe how many people were out at this hour to see a movie, but _it's the city that never sleeps_ he mused to himself. He noticed the familiar leather jacket walking past him before he noticed that it was actually her. However, it was clear that she had seen him and it was too late for either of them to pretend she hadn't.

She slowly inhaled as she approached the bench. She dug her hands deeper into her jacket pockets. "Hey...well, this is unexpected" she said, and she couldn't help the smile that tugged at the corner of her mouth as he took in the site of him sitting outside a theater at this time of night.

"I could say the same thing about you. Looks like you're feeling better, huh?" he asked drily.

She dropped her chin to her chest and puffed out a large breath. Lifting her eyes to meet his, she opened her mouth, ready to explain that these last few days had been brutal without him and she'd spent them feeling sorry for herself under a mountain of beer bottles and take out boxes. But before she could begin, she was interrupted by a familiar voice.

"Hey, sorry I'm late! There was something up with the trains!" Then, noticing Eddie, her face broke into a friendly smile. "Eddie, right? Good to see you again. Are you joining us?"

Eddie looked back and forth between Jamie and Sarah, and finally put together what was happening. The look of hurt on her face nearly broke Jamie's heart. He took a quick breath in, trying to think of something to say, but Eddie beat him to it.

"Next time. I didn't realize what movie was playing. I've seen it a dozen times. I'm over it." she replied coolly.

"Are you sure?" Sarah pressed.

"Oh, yeah. I'm sure. I'm _definitely_ over it." And by the way she was looking at him, Jamie knew she was talking about more than just the movie.


End file.
